
UNIB PROTECTION LECTURER PARTICIPATES IN THE IPB PROTECTION WORKSHOP
Plant Protection Lecturer, Dr. Mimi Sutrawati took part in a workshop organized by the Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, IPB University ‘Plant Pathgenic Diagnostic Workshop on Important Diseases Infecting Banana in Indonesia, from the Field to the Lab’ with resource person Assoc. Prof. John Thomas (The University of Queensland), Dr. Lilia Carvalhais (The University of Queensland), and Prof. Dr. Awang Maharijaya (IPB University). Workshop activities held from 25 to 28 June 2024 at the IPB Plant Protection Department and the Sukamantri Teaching Farm. The first day was filled with lectures about the diversity of bananas in Indonesia, opportunities and challenges in banana cultivation, as well as important diseases in banana plants. Field activities include sampling methods for fusarium wilt, blood diseases and banana bunchy top diseases. Then continued activities in the laboratory to detect bacteria that cause blood disease, fusarium that causes wilt and BBTV using the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) method. Activities in the field and in the laboratory are also supervised by Nga Tran, post doct at The University of Queensland. The results of work in the field and in the laboratory are presented and discussed on the last day of the workshop. This workshop activity was attended by 11 institutions from Sabang to Merauke including various universities and BRIN.
This activity is very useful in increasing researchers’ abilities in diagnosing plant diseases starting from observing symptoms, taking samples, sample preparation, to molecular-based pathogen detection and interpreting the results. Dr. Mimi Sutrawati expressed her thanks to the workshop committee, namely Prof. Sri Hendrastuti Hidayat and Dr. Sari Nurulita who invited him to participate as a participant in this activity. Currently Dr. Mimi Sutrawati is working on banana BBTV research as a member of a collaborative research team with UGM and Prof. Sri Hendrastuti Hidayat as team leader (IPB).